Texas Mom Arrested For Letting Kids Play on Quiet Suburban Street

Tammy Cooper and her husband moved to their house on a cul-de-sac in a quiet La Porte, Texas neighborhood so they would have a safe place for their nine and six-year-old children to grow up.

And Cooper thought she was reaping the benefits of her suburban lifestyle as she sat on her lawn and watched her children play on their scooters. But this tranquility was interrupted when a police car pulled in front of her home and the officer approached her. Cooper asked him what he was here for. "We're here for you," he responded.

What had happened is that Cooper's neighbor had called the cops and said that Cooper was allowing her children to play in the cul-de-sac unsupervised.

Cooper was arrested for child endangerment, and spent the next 18 hours in prison.

The charges were eventually dropped against Cooper, who says she was watching her children from the lawn the whole time. Now Cooper is suing the La Porte Police Department, the officer and the busybody neighbor for the humiliating experience.

Speaking through a spokesperson, the La Porte Police Department said they are "confident of the known actions of the officers on the scene that evening." For her part, the nosy neighbor has yet to comment.